Day 28 (12/1): Norseman to Nundroo Roadhouse; 1,050 km; "Backpackers Lodge" at Roadhouse
Day 29 (12/2): Nundroo to Port Pirie; 710 km; Caravan Park
Covered a lot of ground in this section, much of it stunningly beautiful and exceedingly difficult emotionally. Obviously I must explain. Between Norseman and Nundroo, Highway 1 crosses the border back into South Australia. In this section, the road goes along the Great Australian Byte for about 200 km and also crosses a short stretch of the Nullarbor (tree-less) plain (the bulk of the Nullarbor plain--it is hundreds of miles wide--is further north of the coastal road). When Sandy and I rode here in 1992, this was probably the best couple of days riding on the whole trip. Driving back through this section and especially stopping at a couple of the places we stopped at then (they have not changed) was pretty much heart wrenching. There was a maelstrom of thoughts going through me contributing to this but probably the easiest to express was that I was not able to look back on those times with joy, I was just sad at what I/we lost and all the pain that that has entailed. Once I get this whole thing figured out I'll just have to come back and once again feel the joy this place has to offer.
Need to move on from this place/post for now, couple of other noteworthy items. No pictures but the "backpackers lodge" at Nundroo was a hoot. For $10 (about $7 US), I had a large room with 5 beds, table and chairs, fridge, and TV all to myself (there were no other "backpackers" that night as I doubt there are too often). It was great and lodge even had picture window facing west to yet another amazing sunset, which I did get a picture of. Note that the camper shown below is the one I stayed in Norseman (wind was up so I passed on camping). This one set me back a whopping $20 Australian! Finally, between Norseman and Nundroo is also the longest straight stretch of road in Australia (used to be in Guiness Book of World Records, not sure if it still is). It isn't completely flat, but it is absolutely straight!
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